"Das Wunder von Merching", which means "The miracle of Merching" and sounds better in English because of the two Ms, is a German television film from 2012, so this one will have its tenth anniversary next year. Nothing to be proud of given the quality though and it is fairly shameful that this film is still on national television after all these years and will be for another five years, maybe even ten years with how the number of productions has been decreasing lately. The alternate title / working title "Ein blaues Wunder" is probably even worse than the title they picked eventually. I will spare you the tranlation there. It's not even meant in a literal sense anyway. This is a Hager Moss Film production, which is never a good indicator if you expect quality, especially if ARD is behind it (as you can see from the photo here on imdb) and if it runs the usual slightly under 1.5 hours as this one does here. Then again, I could be grateful this has not going on for another 15 or 20 minutes. The director is Thomas Kronthaler here. If there were still any doubts left if this really sucks, then seeing his body of work (24 Milchkühe und kein Mann, several Frühling episodes and Utta Danella adaptations and Zimmer mit Tante) should really do the trick and make everyone understand that the outcome here would be as low as it gets. The writer is Dominique Lorenz and she worked more often as an actress than as a writer. and without having seen her perform in front of the camera (or at least I don't remember), I highly doubt that she could be worse there than she is as a writer. Literally every entry from the approximately a dozen films she wrote the story for seem terrible. It may sound harsh, but it is true and that this one here, as bad as it may be, is not her most disappointing effort, is really self-explanatory overall.
If we take a look at the cast, we have Jule Ronstedt in the lead. She is of course the woman you see on the photo here as well. On the right side, I should add. And this little addition is probably funnier already than everything you will see in this film. Despite them actually trying to put a smile at least on some occasions on the audience's faces. But it never turned into more than the attempt. Besides, I think Ronstedt is a really poor actress. Not as exposed as Neubauer and Thomalla (if we focus on the brunettes), but equally bad. I think she has two or three different face expressions in this movie in almost 90 minutes, which says it all, and these two are the same ones she shows in every film. Extremely wooden actress in everything she is in and a true negative deal breaker for every film she has been a part of. Again, harsh but true. Just take a look at her profile page and the series Franzi and her face expression there. This is how things go when she tries to make a difference. Utterly ham and unwatchable. There is not too much to say about the rest of the cast. Some experienced actors, but nobody really could have made this mess of a screenplay work and says nothing positive about them that they have accepted the part. Zinner plays the main antagonist and him I remember from Shoppen, a really funny German comedy that is all this one here isn't. Probably not a coincidence by the way that his character here has (almost) the same name like the director. Torben Liebrecht plays the romantic interest to the protagonist, who is also desired by her best friend, but of course he only wants Ronstedt's character and that he is almost a decade younger does not play a role at all. She is amazing enough to have younger men fall for her obviously. Erni Mangold was already in her mid80s when she appeared here and is still with us in 2021 as she just turned 94. I cannot talk about her earlier movies, but being part of the industry since the late 1940s is downright impressive. However, this is not the only recent movie I saw her in that was very poor quality. The other would be this trilogy about a trio of women taking care of a farm and the youngest's love struggles with a guy from Poland it was I think. Really messy and this film here isn't any better. Same applies to Mangold's acting.
As for the story, maybe you guessed it already from the photo here. We have a statue of the Virgin Mary or madonna figure (not sure what's the right term, but you know what I'm talking about anyway) that begins to cry and turns this village we got here into a bit of a pilgrimage site. The truth behind it is of a different nature though and our protagonist knows exactly why because it was a coincidence with a roof that was not waterproof anymore, but when they fixed it, they installed a little application that still makes it look as if she cries and cannot be spotted by anybody really. We see that when the main antagonist, the fella from Shoppen I mentioned already, is asked by Ronstedt's character to take a closer look and sees no evidence of foul play and decides to leave immediately in a grumpy mood. He, by the way, is the mayor(?) of a bigger village nearby and the plan was for this bigger village to take over our protagonist's home and this little idea with the tears is not one they use to become popular, but only to become significant in a way where they would not lose their name basically. Also to show us that the protagonist is kind at heart, it was the son who really originally came up with this little scam idea and he is also the one pressing the buttons for the tears to come into effect. But when he has to leave for a while, his mother is not hesitant to keep going with the idea and of course, early on she also will not speak the truth and stop this charade. So the ways in which the writer here tried to convince us she is an upright, honorable citizen and only joins in the scam because of the necessity to keep her village from becoming insignificant made little to no sense overall. The best (actually, worst) moment of that is near the end already when we have her give this speech to all the people from the village where she wholeheartedly apologizes to everybody. So exaggerated and unwatchable and once again Ronstedt's terrible performance was not helping either.
One thing, even without Degeto credited here, these ARD films alost always have in common is how poorly they elaborate on male characters. This could not be any more the case here. i already mentioned the handsome young fella who cannot get enough of our likable protagonist and of course, it is her best friend early on who is really interested in the man and Ronstedt's character does not need a man to lead a fulfilling life, but when the guy approaches her, really approaches her, in this kiss sequence, it is literally unwatchable. The dialogues could not have been any worse. Next up, there is the antagonist: Already mentioned him with his bald head and he is also romantially interested in Ronstedt's character. Of course he is! Despite his position and power. Can anybody resist her? I doubt it. This scene when he really tries to get close to her and physical on one occasion was another moment that was supposed to be funny, at least a bit, but the opposite was the case. Extremely cringeworthy and pathetic. And then there is also the mayor(?) of the place where all the action is set, a pretty big and chubby guy and he has many scenes together with the protagonist. There is nothing romance-related, but from his reactions and how they talk, the intention was to manipulate us into thinking the woman is so much more capable than he is. Despite his position. His rambling against the Green Party first and later on his fairly sexist statement(s) show us he is not a truly likable fella either. All the love and appreciation from the audience must go to Ronstedt's character. At the same time, by the way this film sends out a political message as well. Not surprising at all for ARd and its very one-sided and manipulative news coverage. The (second) bad guy is a sexist and would never vote for the Green Party. But the audience should. Many simple people out there too really because the Green Party here in Germany will probably reach the second highest percentage of votes this fall. More than they ever had. But that's another story here. Really so much hypocrisy here though with the film being the epitome of anti-male and accusing others of sexism.
Okay, that is pretty much it then. There are still many moments, scenes and plot inclusions I can mention here that make this film what it is, namely unwatchable for the most part, but the character limit is getting closer. Of course, this movie (like all the others) finds a miracle happy ending as well after earlier pretty much everything seemed lost and of course nobody is angry either at our charming lady for her wicked trick and of course she is kind enough to take all the responsibility and makes sure that the blame stays away from her son. These female characters in ARD (Degeto) movies are literally always the same. Absolute role model women that have a great character, dedication etc. And are at the same time supposed to seem flawed, so especially the female viewers can identify with them. Or those who like films like this probably actually think they are similar to the main characters. But speaking of empowering women, it's not at all films like this that do it. But i empower those women who see through this mess and see this film and others for what they truly are. Namely absolutely uncreative, unauthentic, unrealistic etc. And worst of all, they are what ARD etc. come up with from everybody's GEZ money, a fee that is not voluntary, but people are forced to pay it, even if they do not consume these films or ARD's highly one-sided news coverage. I mentioned that earlier. Okay, drifting away now. Worst possible rating for this film obviously. This is oen you want to skip at all costs. It's the opposite of a miracle, namely a tragedy quality-wise. Major thumbs-down for the outcome here, thank God there is no sequel.
If we take a look at the cast, we have Jule Ronstedt in the lead. She is of course the woman you see on the photo here as well. On the right side, I should add. And this little addition is probably funnier already than everything you will see in this film. Despite them actually trying to put a smile at least on some occasions on the audience's faces. But it never turned into more than the attempt. Besides, I think Ronstedt is a really poor actress. Not as exposed as Neubauer and Thomalla (if we focus on the brunettes), but equally bad. I think she has two or three different face expressions in this movie in almost 90 minutes, which says it all, and these two are the same ones she shows in every film. Extremely wooden actress in everything she is in and a true negative deal breaker for every film she has been a part of. Again, harsh but true. Just take a look at her profile page and the series Franzi and her face expression there. This is how things go when she tries to make a difference. Utterly ham and unwatchable. There is not too much to say about the rest of the cast. Some experienced actors, but nobody really could have made this mess of a screenplay work and says nothing positive about them that they have accepted the part. Zinner plays the main antagonist and him I remember from Shoppen, a really funny German comedy that is all this one here isn't. Probably not a coincidence by the way that his character here has (almost) the same name like the director. Torben Liebrecht plays the romantic interest to the protagonist, who is also desired by her best friend, but of course he only wants Ronstedt's character and that he is almost a decade younger does not play a role at all. She is amazing enough to have younger men fall for her obviously. Erni Mangold was already in her mid80s when she appeared here and is still with us in 2021 as she just turned 94. I cannot talk about her earlier movies, but being part of the industry since the late 1940s is downright impressive. However, this is not the only recent movie I saw her in that was very poor quality. The other would be this trilogy about a trio of women taking care of a farm and the youngest's love struggles with a guy from Poland it was I think. Really messy and this film here isn't any better. Same applies to Mangold's acting.
As for the story, maybe you guessed it already from the photo here. We have a statue of the Virgin Mary or madonna figure (not sure what's the right term, but you know what I'm talking about anyway) that begins to cry and turns this village we got here into a bit of a pilgrimage site. The truth behind it is of a different nature though and our protagonist knows exactly why because it was a coincidence with a roof that was not waterproof anymore, but when they fixed it, they installed a little application that still makes it look as if she cries and cannot be spotted by anybody really. We see that when the main antagonist, the fella from Shoppen I mentioned already, is asked by Ronstedt's character to take a closer look and sees no evidence of foul play and decides to leave immediately in a grumpy mood. He, by the way, is the mayor(?) of a bigger village nearby and the plan was for this bigger village to take over our protagonist's home and this little idea with the tears is not one they use to become popular, but only to become significant in a way where they would not lose their name basically. Also to show us that the protagonist is kind at heart, it was the son who really originally came up with this little scam idea and he is also the one pressing the buttons for the tears to come into effect. But when he has to leave for a while, his mother is not hesitant to keep going with the idea and of course, early on she also will not speak the truth and stop this charade. So the ways in which the writer here tried to convince us she is an upright, honorable citizen and only joins in the scam because of the necessity to keep her village from becoming insignificant made little to no sense overall. The best (actually, worst) moment of that is near the end already when we have her give this speech to all the people from the village where she wholeheartedly apologizes to everybody. So exaggerated and unwatchable and once again Ronstedt's terrible performance was not helping either.
One thing, even without Degeto credited here, these ARD films alost always have in common is how poorly they elaborate on male characters. This could not be any more the case here. i already mentioned the handsome young fella who cannot get enough of our likable protagonist and of course, it is her best friend early on who is really interested in the man and Ronstedt's character does not need a man to lead a fulfilling life, but when the guy approaches her, really approaches her, in this kiss sequence, it is literally unwatchable. The dialogues could not have been any worse. Next up, there is the antagonist: Already mentioned him with his bald head and he is also romantially interested in Ronstedt's character. Of course he is! Despite his position and power. Can anybody resist her? I doubt it. This scene when he really tries to get close to her and physical on one occasion was another moment that was supposed to be funny, at least a bit, but the opposite was the case. Extremely cringeworthy and pathetic. And then there is also the mayor(?) of the place where all the action is set, a pretty big and chubby guy and he has many scenes together with the protagonist. There is nothing romance-related, but from his reactions and how they talk, the intention was to manipulate us into thinking the woman is so much more capable than he is. Despite his position. His rambling against the Green Party first and later on his fairly sexist statement(s) show us he is not a truly likable fella either. All the love and appreciation from the audience must go to Ronstedt's character. At the same time, by the way this film sends out a political message as well. Not surprising at all for ARd and its very one-sided and manipulative news coverage. The (second) bad guy is a sexist and would never vote for the Green Party. But the audience should. Many simple people out there too really because the Green Party here in Germany will probably reach the second highest percentage of votes this fall. More than they ever had. But that's another story here. Really so much hypocrisy here though with the film being the epitome of anti-male and accusing others of sexism.
Okay, that is pretty much it then. There are still many moments, scenes and plot inclusions I can mention here that make this film what it is, namely unwatchable for the most part, but the character limit is getting closer. Of course, this movie (like all the others) finds a miracle happy ending as well after earlier pretty much everything seemed lost and of course nobody is angry either at our charming lady for her wicked trick and of course she is kind enough to take all the responsibility and makes sure that the blame stays away from her son. These female characters in ARD (Degeto) movies are literally always the same. Absolute role model women that have a great character, dedication etc. And are at the same time supposed to seem flawed, so especially the female viewers can identify with them. Or those who like films like this probably actually think they are similar to the main characters. But speaking of empowering women, it's not at all films like this that do it. But i empower those women who see through this mess and see this film and others for what they truly are. Namely absolutely uncreative, unauthentic, unrealistic etc. And worst of all, they are what ARD etc. come up with from everybody's GEZ money, a fee that is not voluntary, but people are forced to pay it, even if they do not consume these films or ARD's highly one-sided news coverage. I mentioned that earlier. Okay, drifting away now. Worst possible rating for this film obviously. This is oen you want to skip at all costs. It's the opposite of a miracle, namely a tragedy quality-wise. Major thumbs-down for the outcome here, thank God there is no sequel.
